Pressure mounts in military cases

ASHINGTON (AP) — From Congress to the White House, pressure is mounting to hold military commanders accountable for the rising number of sexual assaults in the armed services.

"This needs to end," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a member of the Armed Services Committee said Sunday. "When a victim comes forward, they should have an advocate to walk them through the military justice system, and commanders who allow this to flourish, quite frankly, should be fired."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the military's future includes both men and women in leadership, and cultural changes are needed "when it comes to the command structure" to make sexual assault and harassment "unacceptable, intolerable; and those who engage in it should pay a price."

The extent of the assaults came to light when the Pentagon released a report earlier this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members might have been sexually assaulted last year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs.

Retired Gen. John Allen, who left the Marines in February after 19 months commanding allied forces in Afghanistan, encouraged commanders to address the issue and tell subordinates exactly what was expected.

"Commanders can't be ambiguous about this. We can't not talk about that," Allen said Sunday. "Commanders" have "got to stand in front of their units and tell the people what they expect. Because silence isn't good enough. This is an opportunity to lead, and we should be seizing it."

Several recent arrests have added to the military's embarrassment.

A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.